TouchBistro Review

Why TouchBistro Is Best for Restaurants

TouchBistro is a POS system designed for full-service restaurants, coffee shops, food trucks and bars. It’s our choice for the best POS system for restaurants because of features like online ordering, mobile ordering, reservations and customer loyalty programs. These features give even small restaurants and cafes the ability to offer their customers a sophisticated experience. 

Restaurants can use the software to monitor seating and table arrangements, update menus, split tickets and send orders to the kitchen. These features can help restaurants create a better customer experience. 

The kitchen display system provides instant communication of ticket information between the front and back of house. You’ll receive real-time data you can use to improve your kitchen’s efficiency, speed up order times and identify cost-saving opportunities. 

We like that TouchBistro is a scalable solution for restaurants of all sizes. If you’re a smaller restaurant or food truck, you can start with a low monthly subscription and minimal upgrades. As your restaurant grows, you can add additional features and hardware to support your business. We also appreciate that the vendor continually updates the platform to offer more services that busy restaurant owners need.

TouchBistro makes adjusting and updating your menu easy. Source: TouchBistro

Usability

We like that TouchBistro’s software is exceptionally easy to use. It works on iOS devices and comes with a separate training mode, so you can train your employees without disrupting normal business operations. This is ideal for small restaurants and new businesses that need to set up a platform and become proficient with it in a hurry.

You can use TouchBistro to accept a wide range of different payment options, which are all integrated directly with the POS system. The platform has a simple, uncluttered ordering screen that makes it easy to find specific items and create tickets.

We also like that you can edit your floor plan easily and configure your seating chart to your liking. All you have to do is drag and drop the elements to their new locations to update your display. For new restaurants that are starting small but plan to grow over time, this makes it easy to add new tables without dramatically impacting your workflow. Only some restaurant POS systems offer this kind of functionality.

TouchBistro Features

Restaurant Management

We like that you can use TouchBistro to manage your entire restaurant, from configuring order tickets and deliveries to creating a digital floor plan. The drag-and-drop tools allow you to manage your tables and seating, helping to ensure your restaurant stays at full occupancy with minimal wait times. 

We also like that you can edit your floor plan easily and configure your seating chart to your liking. All you have to do is drag and drop the elements to their new locations to update your display. For new restaurants that are starting small but plan to grow over time, this makes it easy to add new tables without dramatically impacting your workflow. Only some restaurant POS systems offer this kind of functionality.

Use TouchBistro’s drag-and-drop features to manage your floor plan. Source: TouchBistro

Inventory Management

TouchBistro’s inventory management tools let you track orders at the ingredient level so you never run out of your most popular menu items. This feature also helps you manage recipes by flagging ingredients and other items that are running low. If you do run out of an item, TouchBistro will remove it from your menu automatically.

We also like that the software shows each menu item’s cost to help you determine which dishes are profitable and which ones should either be scrapped from the menu or repriced. This feature is great for new restaurants that are figuring out their ideal menu or for small businesses on a budget that need to strengthen the bottom line.

Unfortunately, unlike some POS systems we reviewed, you can’t reorder items through your TouchBistro POS. However, you can add inventory items manually or via a barcode scanner. 

Customer Management

We were pleased to see that TouchBistro’s customer management software lets you create customer accounts to track preferences and past purchases. You can use this information to create new promotions and customer loyalty programs. 

We also like that TouchBistro’s customer loyalty features enable you to collect customer data to develop branded gift cards and other rewards. For $99 per month, TouchBistro Loyalty gives you access to the following features:

• CRM platform
• Customer loyalty accounts
• Customer web app
• Marketing tools for targeted email marketing promotions
• Reward options
• Marketing and rewards reports

TouchBistro Loyalty helps restaurants capture customer details like number of visits, spend average, order history, birthday and more. Source: TouchBistro

Employee Management

We like that TouchBistro allows you to add unlimited users to your account. Multiple employees can seat tables and ring up customers without the need to pay for additional licenses. We also like that you can create new profiles for each employee and assign staff roles within the software. This helps staff stay focused on their individual roles on the team and also prevents sensitive information from getting into the wrong hands.

The POS software also has a built-in time clock and scheduling integration. You can also use the in-app messaging feature to communicate with employees during their shifts. 

Reporting

We were impressed that TouchBistro comes with advanced POS reporting features. All your data is stored in the cloud so that you can access your POS sales data from anywhere with internet access. Here are some of the reports you can run:

• Total sales reports
• Menu item, category and promotion sales
• Statistical summaries
• Payments
• Staff shifts, activities and tips
• Discounts, deletions and voids
• Taxes and general accounting
• Inventory tracking (by ingredient)

Reservations

TouchBistro allows you to accept reservations on your website and it integrates directly with Google for reservations or waitlists. When customers make a reservation, they can include details about allergies and dining preferences. From there, you can send them short message service notifications to reduce the rate of no-shows. 

Additionally, you can configure the system to ask customers if they are celebrating a special occasion for their visit, such as an anniversary or a birthday. This small step is easy to implement and can go a long way in making your guests feel looked after and it can help drive the repeat business so essential to a restaurant’s bottom line.

TouchBistro Reservations includes customized reservation notes for allergies, dining preferences and special occasions. Source: TouchBistro

Integrations

TouchBistro integrates with popular apps like QuickBooks, Xero, Ordermark, DoorDash and Square. The software also offers an application programming interface (API) for custom integrations, but it’s only available to select TouchBistro partners. However, TouchBistro’s app integrations are relatively small compared to other POS providers we evaluated. 

TouchBistro Costs

TouchBistro is a hybrid POS system, which means the software runs from an onsite server, but the data is stored in the cloud. This means you can continue to accept payments even if you lose your Wi-Fi connection and your data is always available in the cloud.

We appreciate TouchBistro’s transparent pricing — plans start at $69 per month and you can also choose from the following add-ons:

• Loyalty programs: $99 per month
• Online ordering: $50 per month
• Marketing: $99 per month
• Gift cards: $25 per month
• Reservations: $229 per month
• Kitchen Display System: $19 per month
• Profit management: $330 per month

The base costs of TouchBistro are suitable for small restaurants on a budget, but selecting all the add-ons may cause the cost to balloon quickly. For new restaurants, we recommend starting with the base package and only adding more features as you establish a clearer understanding of your needs and monthly revenue projections.

POS Hardware

As an iPad-based POS, TouchBistro simplifies the hardware purchase process. You can use an iPad, iPad Pro or iPad Mini to take orders and process payments right at the table. While it should work on the majority of iPad devices, the company’s app store listing notes that it requires hardware running iPadOS 15.0 or later. You can also connect the system to a television or another screen to turn it into a digital menu board.

TouchBistro also supports third-party hardware, which gives you more flexibility to shop around. 

TouchBistro’s customer-facing display can reduce menu errors and increase customer satisfaction. Source: TouchBistro

TouchBistro Setup

We like that setting up your POS system with TouchBistro is straightforward. Once you sign up, you’ll be assigned a dedicated onboarding specialist. This person will help with the software and hardware installations and provide training on the TouchBistro system.

The user-friendly dashboard is relatively easy to use and train your employees on. However, if you must modify specific features like the table layout and menu, the system may take a bit longer to set up.

TouchBistro Customer Service

We were impressed that TouchBistro provides excellent customer service, with 24/7 access by phone and email. The company doesn’t charge extra for customer support, which isn’t the case among all POS providers. This is crucial for bars and restaurants that are open late at night, so having access to support at all hours is a huge plus. We also like that the company provides a detailed knowledge base, video tutorials and how-to guides on its website. 

TouchBistro’s online blog provides helpful educational content on its products as well as on running a restaurant. Source: TouchBistro

TouchBistro Drawbacks

TouchBistro is an excellent option for restaurants of all sizes, but there are some downsides to consider before you commit. Since TouchBistro is a hybrid system, it’s more expensive than a purely cloud-hosted solution and you’ll need an onsite server to manage the software. This could be especially difficult for smaller restaurants where space is at a premium.

TouchBistro doesn’t have as many third-party integrations as other POS systems on the market, and it’s unfortunate that the API isn’t available for all customers. While the software has a lot to offer restaurants, if it’s not compatible with your preferred apps, the investment may not be worthwhile. With that in mind, the platform continues to get regular updates, so it might be worth checking the company’s website to see if your favorite app got support. 

Methodology

When researching the best POS systems for restaurants, we looked for robust restaurant-management features like tableside ordering, loyalty programs, reservations and inventory management, as well as standard POS system benefits. During our TouchBistro evaluation process, we attended an hour-long demo with the TouchBistro team. We got a detailed look at how the software works and had all our questions answered. We compared TouchBistro to over a dozen top POS systems based on features, pricing, the availability of a free trial and mobile app functionality. Our research helped us determine where TouchBistro stands out from competitors and where improvements are needed.

Overall Value

We recommend TouchBistro for …

• Full-service restaurants, bars and cafes.
• Restaurants looking for ways to improve the guest experience. 

We don’t recommend TouchBistro for …

• Restaurants looking for a large number of software integrations.
• Restaurants that want to integrate the software with third-party hardware or a third-party payment processor.